Machine for assembling medicament applicator swabs



June 21, 1966 R. G. RUTHERFORD 3,256,674

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATOR SWABS Filed July 16, 1962 8Sheets-Sheet 1 In M735 R SSELL 6. RUTHERFORD June 21, 1966 Filed July16, 1962 R. G. RUTHERFORD MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATORSWABS 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 21, 1966 R. G. RUTHERFORD MACHINE FORASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATOR SWABS 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 16,1962 inn/W15 R SSELL 6. RUTHERFORD June 1966 R. G. RUTHERFORD 3,256,674

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATOR SWABS Filed July 16, 1962 sSheets-Sheet 4 onmmnmm June 1966 R. G. RUTHERFORD 3,

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APFLICATOR SWABS Filed July 16, 1962 8Sheets-Sheet 5 Q Li? Ivan/an Wm Ru55ElL 6. RUTHE'R FoR D June 21, 1966R. G. RUTHERFORD 3, ,6

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATOR SWABS Filed July 16, 1962 8Sheets-Sheet 6 5/ I'n/ve/nm RUjSELL R THERFORD June 1966 R. G.RUTHERFORD 3,256,674

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATOR SWABS Filed July 16, 1962 8Sheets-Sheet 7 June 21, 1966 R. G. RUTHERFORD 3,256,674

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATOR SWABS Filed July 16, 1962 8Sheets-Sheet 8 loo RUjSEL 6 RUTHERFORD United States Patent 3,256,674MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDHCAMENT APPLICATSR SWABS Russell G.Rutherford, Rockford, lllL, assignor to Gordon P. St. Clair, Rockford,Ill. Filed July 16, 1962, Ser. No. 210,158 35 Claims. (Cl. 53-482) Thisinvention relates to a new and improved machine for assemblingmedicament applicator swabs.

The medicament applicator swab with which the machine of my invention isconcerned is of the same general type as that first disclosed in DaviesPatent No. 1,822,566, in which a readily frangible vial or ampoulecontaining the liquid medication is enclosed within an easily crushablepaper tube closed at one end and having a swab or wick closing the otherend and projecting therefrom, both to retain any fragments of thecrushed ampoule and apply the medication released when the ampoule iscrushed, a paper cap having a telescoping fit on the tubular containerserving to protect the wick against contamination up to the time theapplicator is to be used. In the present medicament applicator swab, thewick, which is of cylindrical form and cut from a cord of such materialto the required length for insertion of one end to a predetermined depthin the tube and projection of the other end from the tube to apredetermined length, is secured in place in the tube by a suitableadhesive, the most practical solution to the problem of how to supplythe adhesive I have found being to line the tube with acetate material,and then, after the insertion of the wick to drip enough acetone solventon these wicks to cause the same to become cemented by the acetate inthe tubes. However, if the tubes are molded of plastic material, whichis a likely change from the paper construction, then the wicks might beeither heat sealed in place by infra red heating or by a similardripping of a liquid solvent onto the wicks, using whatever highlyvolatile solvent for the plastic employed is as satisfactory as acetoneis for the acetate.

Heretofore, these four-part medication applicator swabs consisting ofampoule, tubular container, applicator wick and cap were assembled byhand, and that was necessarily slow and tedious work and quiteexpensive, necessitating a much higher price for the article than wasconsidered warranted. In accordance with my invention:

(1) The tubes are fed to a conveyor from a hopper in a line by automaticfeed means, the hopper being designed so as to insure the tubes beingfed downwardly into a tubular chute leading to the conveyor open end upto receive the ampoules;

(2) The ampoules are similarly fed from a hopper by automatic feed meansthrough another tubular chute leading to the conveyor, so that oneampoule is deposited in each tube;

(3) Cylindrical wicks of absorbent material are cut from a cord of thematerial to the required length and pressed down into the open upperends of the tubes, leaving a predetermined length of wick projectingfrom each tube for application of the medication;

(4) Acetone is dripped onto the wicks as the swabs thus assembled withthe wicks projecting upwardly therefrom are fed beneath on the conveyor,the acetone serving as a solvent for the acetate lining in the tubes tocement the wicks in place;

(5) Caps are fed from a hopper closed end down by automatic feed means,the caps being inverted thereafter to get the open end down to permitapplication over the tubes, and, finally;

(6) The caps are pressed down over the wick end of the tubes to completethe assembling operation, the

completely assembled swabs being thereafter dropped from the end of themachine into a suitable container.

The conveyor for the tubes is in the form of a horizontal trough, intoone end of which the vertically disposed tubes are fed forward from oneend of a large coarsely threaded screw that is horizontally disposed andgives the column of tubes the necessary forward thrust in the conveyorby screw action in the rotation of the screw, and inasmuch as theoperation of this screw is accurately correlated with the operation ofanother coarsely threaded screw that turns at the same speed as thefirst mentioned one and serves to feed caps forwardly under a similarthrust into one end of a helical passage for their inversion, it followsthat the feeding of caps will be in proper relation to the feeding ofthe tubes to which the caps are to be applied.

The vials or ampoules are fed in end to end relation by gravity througha tube into the upper end of a vertical chute where there are twohorizontally disposed pins reciprocab'le in vertically spaced andproperly timed relation by means of a pair of oscillating arms that areoperated by rotary cam means turning in timed relationship to the firstmentioned tube feeding screw, whereby to insure dropping only oneampoule or vial into each tube.

The cutting operation on the wicks and the pressing of these wicks intothe open ends of the tubes are correlated properly with all the otherassembling operations by a mechanism in an intermediate location in themachine driven in timed relationship to the rest of the machine, andlikewise the capping mechanism at the discharge end of the machine isalso operated in timed relationship with the rest of the machine.

Various safety devices are provided, as follows:

(1) An automatic shut-off switch at the feed-in end of the machine has afeeler that rides against the side of the tubes as they move past on thefeed screw, and, in the event a tube is missing for any reason, themachine is stopped automatically.

(2) In the wick assembling station, a feeler rides on top of theplungers that are used to press the Wicks into the open ends of thetubes when the plungers return to retracted position under springpressure, and if one of these plungers sticks and fails to return to itsnormal retracted position, the feeler dropping below its normal leveloperates another shut-off switch to shut off the machine automatically.

(3) At the capping station, in the event a cap reaches this station ininverted position, open end up, the plunger that normally presses thecap down onto the tube will engage in the open end of the cap instead,and a feeler engaging the cap operates another shut-off switch to shutoff the machine automatically.

(4) A valve is provided in the line leading to the drip nozzle where.the liquid solvent is delivered in drops by gravity onto the wicks, andthis valve is connected with a solenoid that is electrically energizedonly so long as the machine is in operation, whereby to hold the valveopen but allow it to be closed automatically to shut off .the flow ofthe solvent immediately in the event of operation of one of the shut-oifswitches causing stoppage of the machine, and

(5) A hinged gate is provided at a bend in the conveyor trough formingone side Wall of the trough at that point, this gate being held closedby means of a detent that will release automatically in the event of abuild.-up in lateral pressure of the tubes against the gate due tosomething going wrong in the machine, there are too many tubes in thetrough between the wick applying station and the capping station, thegate in that event opening to relieve the pressure before it builds upto the point of breaking ampoules.

The invention is illustrated in .the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a medication applicator swab, showing thefour components in somewhat disassembled relation, with a portion of thetube broken away to permit showing the medication containing vial orampoule there- 1n;

FIG. 2 is a perspective corresponding to a portion of FIG. 1 showing aplastic tube as a modified or alternative construction;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a machine made in accordance with my invention,especially designed for assembling these swabs;

FIG. 4 is a related drive diagram showing all of the drive components inplan view;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views, FIG. 5 showing the feed-in end andthe wick cutting and applying mechanism in the middle of the machine,while FIG. 6 shows the capping end of the machine;

FIG. 7 is a view partly in horizontal section and partly in plan showingthe feed-in end of the machine;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are a plan view of FIG. 7 and an end view, respectively,showing the synchronized pair of camoperated rockers operating plungerscontrolling the dropping of vials or ampoules, one by one into thetubes;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are a fragmentary plan view and fragmentary verticalsectional view, respectively, of the discharge portion of the improvedvibrator type hopper for feeding the tubes always closed end down intothe tubular chute leading to the feed screw shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in verticalsection of the wick cutting and inserting mechanism, the right-handportion of this view showing how a container with the vial therein israised to receive the wick which is pressed into the mouth of the tubeby a plunger; 1

FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view on line 1313 in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a horizontal sectional detail on the line 14-14 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a perspective detail showing the pivoted spring-pressed wickholding fingers;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are views related to FIG. 12 showing the ratchet drivefor operation of the wick feed roller, FIG. 16 showing the wick cuttingblades, and FIG. 17 showing one of these blades in cutting positionunder the wick feed tube;

FIG. 18 is a view related to FIG. 16 showing the wick depressing plungerat the end of its down-stroke, locating the wick preparatory to itsinsertion in the mouth of .the tube;

FIG. 19 is a view, partly in vertical section and partly in sideelevation, of the cap feed mechanism which utilizes a feed screw similarto that shown for the tube feed in FIG. 7, the caps, like the tubes,being fed closed end down, although the caps, after being so fed,require inversion before application, open end down, to the tubes afterthe wicks have been assembled therein;

FIG. 20 is a plan view of FIG. 19, showing the two synchronizedcam-operated rockers, similar to those of FIG. 8, that are used foroperating plungers in timed relation to one another to insure thedropping of only one cap at a time into the feed screw, and

FIG. 21 is a view on the line 2121 of FIG. 19 showing the correlation ofthe caps to the tubes to which they are to be applied.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the four components for the medicationapplicator swab are the paper tube or bottom 25, the easily frangibleglass vial or ampoule 26 containing the liquid medication the liquidlevel of which is indicated at 27, the cylindrical wick 28 insertable inthe mouth of the tube 25 and adapted to be cemented in place by means ofthe acetate lining indicated at 29 inside the tube when rendered tackyby application of a liquid solvent, such as acetone, to the wick 28, anda paper cap 30 made to fit snugly over the wick end of the tube. Nonovelty is claimed in the swab broadly, it being old in Davies Patent1,822,566 to provide such a combination, broadly speaking, in which thevial 26 is adapted to be broken by finger pressure on the side walls ofthe tube 25 to release the liquid 27 to saturate the wick 28 forapplication to a wound or other part requiring it, all glass fragmentsmeanwhile being retained in the tube by the wick so that there is nodanger whatsoever from that source. There is novelty in the provision ofthe adhesive lining 29 that is rendered sticky by wetting through thewick 28, utilizing for this wetting a solvent that is quickdrying sothat there is no interference on this account with the capping soonthereafter, and no danger of wicks being pushed out by pressure of thevial when the assem-' bled swabs are dropped from the machineimmediately after capping.

In lieu of a paper tube 25, the container can be made of molded plasticmaterial, as indicated at 31 in FIG. 2. This construction eliminates thenecessity for coating the inside of the container with an adhesiveinasmuch as the plastic material is thermoplastic and adapted to serveas the adhesive for heat-sealing of the wick 28 in the mouth end of the.tube 31. Another advantage with that form is that clear, or at leasttransparent, plastic material can -be used, thereby enabling in thepacking of swabs in packages to single out any swab that might by chancego through the machine without a vial 26 therein, even though themathematical probability of that occurring is rather small.

Referring to FIGS. 3-9 and 19-21, for a general understanding of themachine, there are three vibration type automatic feed hoppers in thismachine numbered 32, 33 and 34. The principle of operation of thesehoppers is old and well known, but, as will soon appear, I have added anew feature at the discharge point in hoppers 33 and 34 to insure thefeeding closed end down of the tubes 25 and caps 30. The tubes orbottoms 25 (or 31) are fed from hopper 33 through a tubular chute 35 bygravity, closed end down, to the intake end of the housing 36 to receivethe vials or ampoules 26 that are fed from the hopper 32 through anothertubular chute 37 by gravity to the discharge end of the housing 36. Thecaps 30 are fed, closed end down, from the hopper 34 through anothertubular chute 38, by gravity, to the intake end of a housing 39 and,after discharge from this housing and inversion in a connecting housing40, are applied to the tubes 25 (or 31), afterthe-wicks 28, which arecut and inserted in the mechanism 41 at an intermediate station in themachine, have been cemented in place by the moistening of the wicks 28by solvent supplied from a tank 42 through a gravity feed tube 43 andshut-ofl? valve 44 to render tacky the adhesive lining 29 provided inthe tubes 25. When thermoplastic tubes 31 are used, a heat-sealingmechanism 45 is utilized, the tubes 31 with vials 26 and wicks 28therein being fed along the alternate conveyor trough, indicated at 46,instead of through the conveyor trough 47 that extends on a line beneaththe shut-off valve 44. The valve 44 is set to deliver the solvent indrops by gravity directly onto the wicks 28 in just sufiicient amount toinsure good cementing thereof, the solvent being quickdrying so that bythe time the caps are applied in the capping mechanism 48, the wickswill have dried sufficiently to eliminate any likelihood of a wick beingdisplaced from the mouth of the tube by pressure from the vial behind itin the dropping of the completely assembled swabs from the conveyortrough 49 at the discharge end of the machine.

Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 11, showing portions of one of thevibrating parts feeders 33, it will be understood that up to thedrop-off end portion 50 of the circular feed track that extends in onehelix in a counter-clockwise direction around the side wall 51 from thebottom 52 of the hopper upwardly to the drop-off point, the threehoppers 32, 33 and 34 are alike, generally speaking, the vibration ofthe hopper causing the elongated cylindrical pieces to travel or creepalong the track in end-to-end relationship upwardly in acounter-clockwise direction from the bottom to the drop-off point 58. Inthe case of the vials 26, it is immaterial which end is up or down whenthe vials enter the upper end of the tube 37, so in the hopper 32 thefeed track has only the funnel 53 beneath the discharge end portion 56thereof. However, in the case of the tubes or bottoms (or 31) and in thecase of the caps 30, it is important in both cases to have the piecedropped closed end down into the tube or tube 38, so both of thesehoppers 33 and 34 are provided with a radial balancing ledge 54 insidethe wall 51 on the opposite side of the funnel 53 from the discharge endportion of the feed track, so that any tubes 25 or caps 30 fed upwardlyalong the feed track, open end forward, as shown in dotted lines in FIG.10, will first ride over the ledge 54 and then drop down into the funnel53 closed end down. On the other hand, any tubes 25 or caps 30 fedupwardly along the feed track, closed end forward, will drop off the endportion 50 of the track directly into the funnel 53 closed end down, asillustrated in FIG. 11, by reason of that end being heavier than theopen end. A curved baflle 55 guides the open ends of the tubes 25 orcaps 39 inwardly away from the side wall of the hopper 33 or 34- as thepiece feeds forwardly over the ledge 54, thereby causing the heavierclosed end of the tube or cap to be directed outwardly toward the tube35 or 38, as the case may be, as it drops into the funnel 53 leading tothe tube.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 to 9, the tubes or bottoms 25 delivered closedend down from tubular chute 35 by gravity to the intake end of thehousing 36, are engaged one after another in one of the end threads of acoarsely threaded screw 56 driven continuously in a counter-clockwisedirection by a belt-driven pulley 57 from another belt-driven pulley 58,which in turn is driven by belt and pulley means from a small drivepulley 59, driven through suitable reduction gearing by an electricmotor 60, furnishing all of the power necessary for the operation ofthis machine, as seen in FIG. 4, the intermediate pulley 58 transmittingdrive in the opposite direction through another belt connection toanother pulley 61 to drive a secondary drive shaft 62, furnishing driveto the cap feed mechanism, as shown in FIG. 6. Shaft 62 is above thetable 63 but the main drive shaft 64 driven with pulley 58 by motor isdisposed below the table and, as seen in FIG. 4, transmits drive to thewick cutting and inserting mechanism 41 and, through an extension 64,also transmits drive to the capping mechanism 48. The screw 56 engagesten tubes 25 at a time, in parallel spaced vertical relationship, asseen in FIG. 7, and feeds them forward into the conveyor trough 65,pushing forward a long line of these tubes to the point, intermediatethe ends of the machine, where the tubes are picked off one by one fromthe trough by the specially formed teeth 66 of a ratchet wheel 67 andmoved through approximately 180 in a circular path for the wickinserting operation, the tubes 25 with the wicks 28 inserted beingthereafter picked oif the wheel 67 by a finger 68 that extends into theannular groove 69 provided in the ratchet wheel 67, as seen in FIG. 6,and guides the tubes 25 into a conveyor trough 70, like the trough butextending from of the ten being normally fed forward at a time, thisswitch 71 will break the circuit for motor 60 and stop the machine. Theoperator, upon such a stoppage, can quickly enough determine the causeand correct it, and the machine can then resume its normal operation. Ifthe switch 71 stops the machine because of a clogged condition at theintake end of the tubular chute 35, that difiiculty is easily corrected.Usually, however, the switch 71 will be operated only in the event ofthe hopper 33 becoming empty and requiring the adding of tubes 25.

The vials 26, as seen in FIGS. 79, are delivered one by one to the tubes25 at the front end of screw 56, two cams 74 and 75 turning with pulley57 operating a pair of rocker arms 76 and 77, respectively, in timedrelationship to one another to reciprocate a pair of vertically spacedplungers 78 in timed relationship to one another in the vertical passage79, so that the upper plunger supports the column of vials 26, that aredisposed in end to end relationship in the tubular chute 37, While theother plunger therebelow is releasing the vial previously dropped intoplace thereabove, and then, while the lower plunger 78 is held in, theupper plunger is withdrawn momentarily and returned quickly under actionof a tension spring 80 so as to be certain that only one vial 26 will bedropped at a time into the machine.

Referring next to FIGS. 35 and 12-18, the cord or rope 81 that I havefound most suitable for use in cutting the wicks 28 is a cotton productsimilar to what is used in the dental profession for absorbent wadpurposes in the mouth, the cord being wound on a reel 82 mounted on asuitably elevated support over the table 63 so that it can be fedvertically downwardly through a vertical passage 83 in a guide 86. Afinely toothed wheel 84 meshes with the cord and is disposed in avertical plane, radially with respect to the passage 83, and projectsinto one side thereof through an arcuate slot 85 cut in one side of theguide 86, the wheel 84 being turned a little at a time to feed the cord81 downwardly intermittently, each step of the feed being enough toproject the desired length of cord for one wick below the lower end ofpassage 83 for cutoff. The cutting off is done by either one of twoblades 87 that extend outwardly in a horizontal plane from thediametrically opposite sides of a rotating wheel 88, the angle of eachof the blades 87 being rearwardly from a radial line, as seen in FIGS. 3and 5, thereby causing a skiving cut that I have found especially goodand reliable for the clean cutting of this cotton cord. A sprocket 89transmits drive to the blade carrying wheel 88 and is driven by chaindrive from a vertical shaft 90, having a driving connection, asindicated at 91, with the drive shaft 64 below the table 63, so as torotate the blades 87 in a predetermined timed relationship to theintermittent turning of the cord feeding Wheel 84. Another verticalshaft 92 has a chain drive connection with shaft below the table, asseen in FIG. 4, whereby to drive sprocket 93 above the table in apredetermined relationship to the intermittent turning of the cordfeeding wheel 84, sprocket 93 driving an endless chain 94 on whichvertical spring-returned plungers 95 are provided at opposite ends ofeach link of the chain to press the wicks 28 into the tubes-25 as thepointed upper ends of the plungers 95 ride under the ar-cuate cam 96forcing the plungers downward-1y against the action of their returnsprings, the entry of the Wicks in the tubes occurring while the tubes25 disposed in registering relationship to and beneath the plungers inratchet wheel 67 are elevated, as seen in FIG. 12 and are sliding alongthe raised horizontal middle portion 97 of a track 98 that extends in anare around the ratchet wheel 67, the raised middle portion 97 being ofapproximately the same length measured circumferentially of the ratchetwheel 67 as the arcuate cam 96. In that way, the wicks 28, which whenfirst out are disposed in an upper hole 99 in a horizontally split rim108 turning with the ratchet wheel 67 in concentric relation thereto butare soon thereafter pushed down into a registering lower hole 101 bymeans of a plunger 102, are situated'so that it requires only a shortstroke of the plunger 95 to transfer these wicks from the lower holes101 into the open upper ends of the tubes 25, the plungers 95 beingoperated against the resistance of their springs by. the cam 96 in about90 travel with the ratchet wheel 67 from a fully retracted position tooperative position extending down through holes 99 and 101 to press thewicks into the tubes to a predetermined depth, the plungers 95 beingthereafter returned under pressure of their springs to retractedposition immediately after leaving cam 96. If a plunger 95 gets stuckand fails to return to fully retracted position, that is immediatelyindicated by automatic stopping of the machine. A shutoff switch 103 isnormally held closed by means of a rocker arm 104, one end of whichrides on the upper end of one after the other of the plungers 95,thereby serving to hold the other end down in closed circuit position,so that if a plunger 95 promptly after leaving. cam 96 fails to returnto its proper elevation under spring action, that will be indicated bythe opening of the circuit for the motor 60 at switch 103 and theoperator will have to rectify the difficulty before the machine canresume operation. Plunger 102 is connected to reciprocate with a plunger105, as seen in FIG. 16, so as to be given one reciprocation for each ofa series of spaced vertical pins 106 on ratchet wheel 67 as the pinpasses under plunger 105 in the turning of the ratchet Wheel, theplunger 105 being forced upwardly by pin 106 against the resistance of acoiled compression spring 107 and the latter serving to return plunger105 and move plunger 102 on its downstroke a distance limited partiallyby stop 108 on the supporting frame 109, plunger 105 being of such adiameter in relation to the spacing of the pins 106, as seen in FIG. 18,that its conically pointed lower end is disposed astride two neighboringpins at the lower limit of its travel, a rubber bumper R also strikingthe stop 108 to cushion and silence the operation. The reciprocation ofplunger 105 is utilized also to transmit intermittent rotation to thewick feed-wheel 84, there being a drive pawl 1'10 engaging ratchet wheel111, which through a belt and pulley connection, indicated at 112,transmits intermittent rotation to the wheel 84 more or less positivelyupon each up stroke of plunger 105, while another pawl 1413, which theratchet wheel 111 overruns in its feed operation, serves to hold saidwheel against return movement at the end of each feed operation.

Referring to FIGS. 12, 13 and 15, the upper holes 99 in the split rim100 are elongated, as best seen in FIGS. 13 and 15, so as to compensatefor the slight difference in timing between the turning of the ratchetwheel 67 and the cutting and depositing of the wicks 28, each wick beingdeposited first at the front end of slot 99, remote from hole 101 andbehind pivoted spring restrained levers 114, as seen in FIG. 13, andbeing moved to the rear in register with and over hole 101 against theresistance of its spring by abutment with a fixed finger 115 as theratchet wheel 67 turns in a clockwise direction relative to said finger,the levers 114 riding off the end of the finger 115 as they deflect thefinger slight and are moved past it, and finger 115 being in the form ofa leaf spring and adapted to give enough to permit such operation.

As seen in FIG. 17, there are seven wicks 28 freshly cut from the cord8-1 at any given time, as illustrated in FIG. 17, six of these beinghoused in a column in a tube 116, and the lowermost one being expelledinto slot 99 when the cord 81 is fed downwardly so that its lowerextremity is in the upper end of tube 116 a length equivalent to onewick, whereupon the blade 87 severs this wick from the lower end of thecord while this lower end portion of the cord is supported partly by thebore 83 and partly by the upper end of tube 116, the knives 87 workingin the small clearance 117 therebetween.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, there is at the junction of conveyor troughs47 and 70 a rubber roller 118 driven by a reversed belt and pulleyconnection 119 from shaft 92, whereby to help feed the tubes 25 forwardin trough 47 at the bend formed by the junction of troughs 47 and 70, asseen in'FIG. 3. The roller 118 is on the inner side of the bend, and adoor 120 defines the outer wall of the trough 47 at the bend, as shownin FIG. 5, and this door is pivoted at one end, as indicated at 121, ona vertical axis and held closed by means of yieldably mounted roller 122at the other end, so that, in the event of a jam-up ahead in trough 47,by reason of one too many tubes 25 being disposed in the trough, thedoor 120 will spring open and several .tubes 25 will drop out onto thetable 63 to relieve the pressure and avoid possible cracking or breakingof any of the vials 26. The rubber roller 118 transmits forward thrustto the tubes 25 by frictional contact with the tubes through a slot inthe inner side wall of thetrough at the junction of troughs 47 and 70.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, an electrical solenoid 123 isconnected in series in the circuit of motor 60 so that it is normallyenergized so long as the motor 60 is running, whereby to keep the handle124 of the springclosed valve 44 raised in open position whereby todischarge solvent onto the wicks 28 through a downspout 125 extendingdownwardly from the valve 44, as shown in FIG. 6. However, when themotor circuit is broken, as by means of switch 71, or switch 103, thesolenoid 123 is deenergized and valve 44 is automatically closed,stopping the discharge of the solvent until the difiiculty that causedthe stoppage of the motor has been remedied.

Referring again to FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, in the event heatsealing isutilized for sealing the wicks 28 in thermoplastic tubes 31, in whichevent the tubes 31 are conveyed through the generally U-shaped pathindicated in dotted lines at 46 in FIGS. 3 and 6 through an auxiliarytrough for passage through the heat-seal unit 45, an electric motor 126controlled by a separate switch 127 is thrown into operation to turn theheat on in unit 45 and transmit drive through a reduction gear box andother intermediate drive means to a pair of endless feed belts 128 thatform one side of the trough 46 in unit 45 while the other side 129 thatis electrically heated has the tubes rolled by belts 128 along the fulllength thereof for the heat-sealing operation.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4, 6 and 19-21, the caps 30 fed from hopper 34through the tubular chute 38, closed end down, rely for their exit fromtrough 34 with closed end down upon the same means utilized in trough 33for insuring the feeding of the tubes 25 that same way, as shown inFIGS. 10 and 11. However, despite these precautions, if a cap 30 isdelivered open end down through tube 38 into the upper end of thepassage 130 and comes into the capping mechanism open end up, thecapping plunger 131 that would otherwise have applied the cap 30 ontothe tube 25 will be pressed into the open upper end of the cap, asindicated in dotted lines at X in FIG. 6, and operate a shut-off switch132 connected in series with the motor 60 to stop the machine, theswitch 132 having a finger 133 projecting into the annular groove 134provided in the ratchet wheel 135. Switch 132 remains closed only 'solong as the finger 133 disposed in groove 134 does not strike such anobstruction. The cap 30 indicated at X frictionally resists returnmovement of the plunger 131 engaged therein and prevents the normalreturn of the plunger and that is why the finger 133 is certain ofstriking this jammed cap. The operator noting the difficulty can, ofcourse, quickly remove the offending cap and apply a cap to the tube 25in trough 49 that accordingly remained uncapped, and the machine canthen resume its operation. Ratchet wheel 135 is driven by a verticalshaft 136 to which drive is transmitted below the table 63 from the maindrive shaft 64, as shown in FIG. 4, to insure operation of the cappingmechanism 48 in timed relationship with the cap feed and the rest of themachine.

Referring to FIGS. 19 and 20, there are two pins 137 and 138 disposedhorizontally in vertically spaced relation in passage 131) and operatedby dogs 139 that are in turn operated by a rotary cam 140 turning withthe shaft 62 mentioned previously, whereby to have one of the pins 137and 138 moved in when the other is out, and vice versa, and accordinglydrop the caps 30 one at a time to the starting position at the inner endof a coarsely threaded feed screw 141 operating in the housing 39 andturning with the cam 140. This screw 141 operates in the same fashion asthe screw 56 previously described to handle eight caps 34) at a time,feeding them forwardly into a conveyor trough 142. The trough 142connects with one end of a helical trough 143 provided in the connectinghousing 40, whereby to have the caps 30 inverted and deliver the sameopen end down from the far end of housing 40 to be fed through a shortchannel-shaped conveyor trough 144 into the upper set of teeth of theratchet wheel 135 directly over the tubes onto which these caps are tobe applied, the tubes 25 (with vials 26 and wicks 28 assembled therein)being fed into the lower set of teeth of the ratchet wheel 135 from thetrough 47 a short distance behind the point where the caps are entered,as is clearly shown in FIG. 21. 4

Referring now to FIG. 19, to reduce likelihood in the feeding of caps 30from the hopper 34 of a jamming of the closed lower end of one cap inthe open upper end of the next cap below, I provide an air nozzle 145 atthe lower end of the tube 38 to which compressed air is deliveredthrough a tube 146 from a suitable source for discharge downwardly intothe upper end of the passage 130. That serves two purposes:

(a) The cap 30 in place over pin 137 more or less closes the upper endof passage 130 so that a slight build up in pressure occurs at the upperend of this cap, tending to force the closed end of the next cap 36upwardly and insure its remaining dislodged, at least, and

(b) When pin 137 is withdrawn, the cap resting thereon tends to drop bygravity into place over pin 138, but,

due to the air jet from nozzle 145 delivered into the open upper end ofthe cap 30, the cap is thereby impelled downwardly, and there istherefore no danger of any time lag in the dropping of the one cap outof the way before the next cap above drops into its place over pin 137.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 6, 19 and 21, the application of the caps 31 ontothe tubes 25 involves merely the depres- 'sion of the plungers 131against the action of their return springs by means of an inclinedcircular cam disk 147, the plungers 131 being guided in and turning witha disk 148 disposed above and in concentric relation to and turning withthe ratchet Wheel 135, and the plungers 131 being disposed in registerwith the teeth of the ratchet wheel 135, The ratchet wheel 135 ispreferably, though not necessarily, adjustably clutched to the shaft 136by means of a manually operable cam 149, which in the vertical positionshown in FIG. 6 firmly clutches the ratchet wheel 135 and disk 148 tothe shaft 136 to turn therewith, but, in the event it is desired to makea slight angular adjustment of this assembly in relation to its driver136 to improve the timing and insure smoother operation of the machinefor less rejects in the final inspection of the assembled swabs, it ispossible to accomplish such an adjustment at this point.

An electrically operated counter is shown at 150 in FIG. 6 to registerthe number of swabs assembled in the machine and discharged through thetrough 49. A make and break switch 151 shown in FIG. 4 has a finger 152which by engagement with one after another of the tubes 25 as they gothrough the capping mechanism 49 closes the circuit through the counter151] and thereby registers the number of swabs assembled quiteaccurately.

Separate manually operated switches are indicated at 153, 154 and 155 tocontrol the motors operating the vibrating means for hoppers 32, 33 and34, respectively, it being clear that whenever the motor 60 is stoppedand 111 the operation of the machine is interrupted briefly for any oneof the reasons previously indicated, there is no need for interruptingthe vibration of the hoppers 32-34, because their continued operation isnot in any way objectionable.

For manual control of motor 61 there is a switch box 156 having a startbutton 157, a stop button 158, and a reset button 159, the latternormally remaining depressed, as shown, but popping out to the dottedline position indicated in FIG. 4 when the motor at) is overloaded forany reason and stops without such stoppage being caused by the openingof the motor circuit at 71, 163 or 132. Operation of an overload relayin box 156 being indicated by pop-out button 159, the operator isimmediately informed thereby and no time need be wasted checking theseother switches, and as soon as the cause of the overload is corrected,the machine can be thrown back into operation simply by depressing thereset button 159.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators each consisting ofa tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein of generallycylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swab entered inthe open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquid medication uponbreakage of the vial inside said body, the machine comprising a firsthopper containing said tubular bodies, a conveyor trough, a tubularchute, feed means feeding said bodies closed end down downwardly bygravity from said hopper in end to end relationship through said chuteto said trough, means advancing said bodies in a row in said trough inside to side vertical 1'elationship,'a second hopper containing saidvials, a second tubular chute, feed means operated in timed relation tothe last named means feeding said vials downwardly by gravity from saidsecond hopper in end to end relationship through said second chute tosaid trough so that one vial is dropped into the open end of each bodyin succession, and swab feeding and applying means operated in timedrelationship to the advancement of the bodies in said trough, wherebyone swab is entered in the open end of each body in succession.

2. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein there is an adhesivecoating on one of the contacting surfaces of the swab and tubular body,the machine including means for wetting the swab with a liquid solventwhereby to cause the swabs to adhere to the tubular bodies.

3. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein the tubular bodies are of athermoplastic material adapted to be rendered tacky by heating, themachine including means for applying heat to said tubular bodies tocause adhesion of the swabs to said bodies.

4. A machine as set forth in claim 1. wherein each medicament applicatorincludes a tubular cap closed at one end and fitting over the tubularbody in telescoping relationship thereto enclosing the swab, the machineincluding cap feeding and applying means operated in timed relationshipto the other means recited.

5. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body of easily crushable paper closed at one end, afrangible vial therein of elongated generally cylindrical formcontaining a liquid medication and nearly filling said tubular body, anda swab entered in the open end of the body to retain the vial whileprojecting from said tubular body so as to be adapted to apply theliquid medication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, themachine comprising means for feeding said bodies laterally in uprightposition to travel horizontally through the machine open end up, meansoperated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feedingsaid vials endwise in a substantially vertical direction downwardly andinserting the same into the open ends of said bodies, one vial per body,and means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said swabs in a sub stantially vertical direction downwardlyinto the open ends of said bodies after the vials, one swab per body.

6. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the Open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising means for feeding said bodies laterally in upright positionto travel horizontally through the machine open end up, means operatedin timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feeding vialsendwise in a substantially vertical direction downwardly and insertingthe same into the open ends of said bodies, one vial per body, and meansoperated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feedingswabs in a substantially vertical direction downwardly into the openends of said bodies after the vials, one swab per body, the swabinserting elements being cam operated on their working stroke and springreturned to retracted position,

. and means responsive to failure of any one of said swab insertingelements to return to fully retracted position to stop said machine.

7. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising means for feeding said bodies laterally in upright positionto travel horizontally through the machine open end up, means operatedin timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feeding vialsendwise in a substantially vertical direction downwardly and insertingthe same into the open ends of said bodies, one vial per body, and meansoperated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feedingswabs in a substantially vertical direction downwardly into the openends of said bodies after the vials, one swab per body, there being anadhesive coating on one of the contacting surfaces of the swab andtubular body, and the machine including means for wetting the swab witha liquid solvent whereby to cause the swabs to adhere to the tubularbodies.

8. A machine as set forth in claim 7 including a shut-off valvecontrolling the flow of liquid solvent, and means for automaticallyoperating said valve to closed position in response to stoppage of themachine.

9. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising means for feeding said bodies laterally in upright positionto travel horizontally through the machine open end up, means operatedin timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feeding vialsendwise ina substantially vertical direction downwardly and insertingthe same into the open ends of said bodies, one vial per body, and meansoperated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feedingswabs in a substantially vertical direction downwardly into the openends of said bodies after the vials, one swab per body, the tubularbodies being of a thermoplastic material adapted to be rendered tacky byheating, and the machine including means for applying heat to saidtubular bodies to cause adhesion of the swabs to said bodies.

10. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof atubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising means for feeding said bodies laterally in upright positionto travel horizontally through the machine open end up, means operatedin timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feeding vialsendwise in a substantially vertical direction downwardly and insertingthe same into the open ends of said bodies, one vial per body, and meansoperated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means for feedingswabs in a substantially vertical direction downwardly into the openends of said bodies after the vials, one swab per body, each medicamentapplicator including a tubular cap closed at one end and fitting overthe tubular body in telescoping relationship thereto enclosing the swab,and the machine including cap feeding and applying means operated intimed relationship to the other means recited.

11. A machine as set forth in claim 10 including means for automaticallycausing stoppage of the machine operable by a cap when disposed open endup and left stuck on the cap applying means in the working strokethereof instead of being disposed open end down and applied to a tubularbody.

12. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body of easily crushable paper closed at one end, afrangible vial therein of elongated generally cylindrical formcontaining a liquid medication and nearly filling said tubular body, anda swab entered in the open end of the body to retain the vial whileprojecting from said tubular body so as to be adapted to apply theliquid medication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, themachine comprising a substantially horizontal conveyor trough, means forfeeding said tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one by one,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series of saidbodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabs in theopen ends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers.

13. A machine as set forth in claim 12 wherein the swab feeding meansincludes a cutting means operable on a vertical axis to cut one swab ata time from a vertically disposed cord of swab material, there being avertical guide for the cord above the cutting means and a vertical guidefor swabs below said cutter in register with the first guide, andintermittently operable feed means operated in timed relation to thesprocket and rotary carrier to feed the cord downwardly one swab lengthper operation from the first guide into the second guide preliminary tothe cutting of each swab, whereby in the cutting of each swab thelowermost swab in the last mentioned guide is delivered to the rotarycarrier.

14. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising a substantially horizontal 13 conveyor trough, means forfeeding said tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one by one,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series of saidbodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabs in theopen ends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, the swab feeding means including a cutting means operable on avertical axis to cut one swab at a time from a vertically disposed cordof swab material, there being a vertical guide for the cord above thecutting means and a vertical guide for swabs below said cutter inregister with the first guide, and intermittently operable feed meansoperated in timed relation to the sprocket and rotary carrier to feedthe cord downwardly one swab length per operation from the first guideinto the second guide preliminary to the cutting of each swab, wherebyin the cutting of each swab the lowermost swab in the last mentionedguide is delivered to the rotary carrier, the rotary carrier includingan upper section having slots provided therein circumferentiallythereof, each registering at one end with a swab receiving opening inthe carrier, the swab being delivered into said slots preliminary totheir entry in said openings during rotation of the carrier, locatingfingers oscillatable relative to said slots on said upper section ofsaid carrier, means for oscillating said fingers to locate the swabs inthe slots in register with the openings, and plunger means operated intimed relationship to the turning of said carrier to transfer the swabsfrom the slots into the openings.

15'. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising a substantially horizontal conveyor trough, means for feedingsaid tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one by one,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series of saidbodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabsin the openends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, and another substantially horizontal conveyor trough into oneend of whichusaid tubular bodies containing vials and swabs are fedlaterally one by one from the sprocket for further travel through themachine in upright position containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising a substantially horizontal conveyor trough, means for feedingsaid tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one by one,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series of saidbodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabs in theopen ends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, and

another substantially horizontal conveyor trough into one end of whichsaid tubular bodies containing vials and swabs are fed laterally one byone from the sprocket for further travel through the machine in uprightposition and close abutment with one another, and said machine includingcap feeding and applying means at the other end of said last mentionedtrough.

17. A machine as set forth in claim 16 wherein one of said conveyortroughs includes an angular portion, the machine including at the apexof the angle on the outer side a pressure relief member forming one sidewall section of the channel, and yieldable means holding said member inplace.

18. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising a substantially horizontal conveyor trough, means for feedingsaid tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one byone,,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series ofsaid bodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabs in theopen ends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, and

another substantially horizontal conveyor trough into one end of whichsaid tubular bodies containing vials and swabs are fed laterally one byone from the sprocket for further travel through the machine in uprightposition and close abutment with one another, and said machine includinganother sprocket turning on a vertical axis relative to the other end ofthe last mentioned trough to convey said tubular bodies containing vialsand swabs in a circular path for capping, and means for feeding andapplying caps to said tubular bodies.

19. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising a substantially horizontal conveyor trough, means for feedingsaid tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one by one,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series of saidbodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabs in theopen ends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, and another substantially horizontal conveyor trough into oneend of which said tubular bodies containing vials and swabs are fedlaterally one by one from the sprocket for further travel through themachine in upright position and close abutment with one another, andsaid machine including another sprocket turning on a vertical axisrelative to the other end of the last mentioned trough to convey saidtubular bodies containing vials and swabs in a circular path forcapping, another sprocket above and turning in concentric relation tothe last named sprocket, a substantially horizontal conveyor trough inelevated relation to the last mentioned conveyor trough and having itsoutlet end disposed adjacent the last mentioned sprocket to feed capslaterally thereto in upright position, one cap per tooth, inregistration with and above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth ofthe lower sprocket, means for feeding caps one by one into the other endof said trough in vertical position and close abutment with one another,open end down, and cap applying means reciprocable relative to said lastmentioned sprockets.

20. In a machine for assembling medicament applicators, each consistingof a tubular body closed at one end, a frangible vial therein ofgenerally cylindrical form containing a liquid medication, and a swabentered in the open end of the body and adapted to apply the liquidmedication upon breakage of the vial inside said body, the machinecomprising a substantially horizontal conveyor trough, means for feedingsaid tubular bodies in upright position open end up, one by one,laterally into one end of said trough so as to move a series of saidbodies forwardly in the machine in close abutment with one another,means operated in timed relationship to the last mentioned means forfeeding said vials endwise substantially vertically downwardly into theopen ends of said bodies, one vial per body, a sprocket turning on avertical axis relative to the other end of said trough and driven intimed relation to the two last mentioned means to convey said bodiescontaining said vials in a circular path, a rotary carrier for saidswabs disposed in concentric relationship to said sprocket havingopenings provided therein for reception of the swabs in register withand above the tubular bodies disposed in the teeth of the sprocket,means for feeding swabs into said openings in succession, means abovethe carrier turning with the sprocket and carrier and carrying plungersoperable downwardly through said openings to insert the swabs in theopen ends of said bodies in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, and another substantially horizontal conveyor trough into oneend of which said tubular bodies containing vials and swabs are fed oneby one laterally from said sprocket for further travel through themachine in upright position and close abutment with one another, thetubular bodies being of a thermoplastic material adapted to be renderedtacky by heating so enable making the swabs adhere to the tubular bodiesby application of heat, the machine including means for applying heat tosaid tubular bodies in their travel through said last mentioned conveyortrough for that purpose.

21. A machine as set forth in claim 20 including another substantiallyhorizontal conveyor trough for discharge of completely assembledapplicators from the machine, said trough having its intake end disposedadjacent the lower end of the last mentioned sprockets to receive theassembled applicators therefrom after capping.

22. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a substantiallyhorizontal conveyor trough in which hollow cylindrical articles all oflike diameter may be guided for movement laterally in upright positionin close abutment with one another, these hollow cylindrical articlesbeing adapted to receive other articles of smaller diameter therein, anelongated substantially horizontal housing, one side wall of which iscoextensive with one side of said trough, a large diameter, coarselythreaded, elongated screw rotatable in said housing on a substantiallyhorizontal axis in spaced parallel relationship to the aforesaid wall,the threads of said screw being so spaced in relation to the diameter ofsaid hollow cylindrical articles for closely confining and positioningthe same in closely spaced upright parallel relation in said housingwhile permitting dropping of said cylindrical articles into place inupright position between the screw and said wall for forward feedmovement with the threads of said screw into said trough in the turningof said screw, a vertical chute and guide vertically aligned with oneportion of said screw thread for delivering the hollow cylindricalarticles down into place between the screw and said wall for forwardfeed movement into said trough in the turning of said screw, anothervertical chute and guide vertically aligned with another portion of saidscrew thread in forwardly spaced relation to the first mentioned portionfor delivering the other articles of smaller diameter down into thehollow cylindrical articles before they move into the trough, and meansfor driving said screw.

23. A machine as set forth in claim 22 wherein said wall has an openingprovided therein, the machine including a feeler extending through saidopening to detect by slidable engagement on the sides of the hollowcylindrical articles the absence of one or more of said articles, saidfeeler being movable inwardly farther in that event, and a switchoperable by said feeler to shut off the machine in such event.

24. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a substantiallyhorizontal conveyor trough in which cylindrical articles may be guidedfor movement laterally in upright position in close abutment with oneanother, an elongated substantially horizontal housing, one side ofwhich is coextensive with one side of said trough, a large diameter,coarsely threaded, elongated screw rotatable in said housing on asubstantially horizontal axis in spaced Parallel relationship to theaforesaid wall, whereby to permit dropping of said cylindrical articlesinto place between the screw and said wall for forward feed movementwith the threads of said screw into said trough in the turning of saidscrew, and means for driving said screw, the cylindrical articles beinghollow and adapted to receive other articles of smaller diametertherein, the machine including a vertical chute and guide communicatingwith the housing adjacent the inner end of the trough for deliveringthese last named articles vertically downwardly into the first mentionedarticles, a pair of horizontally reciprocable stops in vertically spacedparallel relation in said guide, the upper one of which supports acolumn of the smaller diamter articles when said stop is disposed inoperative position, and the lower one of which supports at least one ofsaid articles when disposed in operative position, and means forreciprocating said stops in a predetermined timed relationship to oneanother so as to drop at least one of said last named articles into saidhousing and into one of the other articles in each operation.

25. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a sprocketturning on a vertical axis to convey hollow cylindrical articles inupright position in a circular path, one article per tooth on thesprocket, a rotary carrier for other articles of smaller diameter to beentered in the first mentioned articles, said carrier being disposed inconcentric relationship to said sprocket and having openings providedtherein for reception of the last mentioned articles in register withand above the first mentioned articles disposed in the teeth of thesprocket, means for feeding the second mentioned articles into saidopenings in succession, means above the carrier turning with thesprocket and carrier and carrying plungers all coaxially aligned withthe hollow cylindrical articles first mentioned and operable downwardlythrough said openings to insert the second mentioned articles into thefirst mentioned articles in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, comprising a single stationary cam disposed over said plungersand sprockets and inclined relative thereto and having all of theplungers operable at their upper ends by engagement with the under sideof said ca-rn, said plungers being all spring-pressed upwardly towardengagement with said cam.

26. A machine as set forth in claim 25 including a circular track forthe bottoms of the hollow cylindrical articles to slide on in theirmovement in the circular path, that portion of said track where thesecond articles are inserted being raised for elevation of the hollowcylindrical articles and shortening of the distance to said articlesduring the insertion of the second mentioned articles.

27. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a sprocketturning on a vertical axis to convey hollow cylindrical articles inupright position in a circular path, one article per tooth on thesprocket, a rotary carrier for other articles of smaller diameter to beentered in the first mentioned articles, said carrier being disposed inconcentric relationship to said sprocket and having openings providedtherein for reception of the last mentioned articles in register withand above the first mentioned articles disposed in the teeth of thesprocket, means for feeding the second mentioned articles into saidopenings in succession, means above the carrier turning with thesprocket and carrier and carrying plungers operable downwardly throughsaid openings to insert the second mentioned articles into the firstmentioned articles in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, the second mentioned articles being of a' kind cut as a lengthfrom an elongated member, the feeding means including a cutting meansoperable on a vertical axis to cut one article of a predetermined lengthat a time from the vertically disposed elongated member, there being avertical guide for said member above the cutter and a vertical guide forthe articles below said cutter in register with the first guide, andintermittently operable feed means operated in timed relation to thesprocket and rotary car- I carrier.

28.- A machine as set forth in claim 27 wherein the rotary carrierincludes an upper section having slots provided thereincircumferentially thereof, each registering at one end with an articlereceiving opening in the carrier, the articles being delivered into saidslots preliminary to their entry in said openings during rotation of thecarrier, locating fingers oscillatable relative to said slots on saidupper section of said carrier, means for oscillating said fingers tolocate the articles in the slots in register with the openings, andplunger means operated in timed relationship to the turning of saidcarrier to transfer the articles from the slots into the openings.

29. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a sprocketturning on a vertical axis to convey hollow cylindrical articles inupright position in a circular path, one article per tooth on thesprocket, a rotary carrier for other articles of smaller diameter to beentered in the first mentioned articles, said carrier being disposed inconcentric relationship to said sprocket and having openings providedtherein for reception of the last mentioned articles in register withand above the first mentioned articles disposed in the teeth of thesprocket, means for feeding the second mentioned articles into saidopenings in succession, means above the carrier turning with thesprocket and carrier and carrying plungers operable downwardly throughsaid openings to insert the second mentioned articles into the firstmentioned articles in succession, and means for reciprocating saidplungers, the plungers being spring returned upwardly to a normalretracted position and cam operated downwardly on their working stroke,the machine including means responsive to failure of any one of saidplungers to return to fully retracted position to stopjsaid machine.

30. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a sprocketturning on a substantially vertical axis, means for feeding cylindricalarticles laterally to said sprocket to be conveyed in a circular path,one article per tooth of said sprocket, for application of a cap to eacharticle in a telescoping relationship thereto, another sprocket aboveand turning in concentric relationship with said first mentionedsprocket, means for feeding hollow cylindrical caps open end down tosaid last mentioned sprocket to be conveyed in a circular path on thesame radius as the aforesaid articles and in register with saidarticles, and cap applying means above the last mentioned sprocketreciprocable relative thereto, said last mentioned means comprising arotary member carrying plungers vertically disposed in circumferentiallyspaced relation in register with the caps in the last mentionedsprocket, spring means normally returning said plungers upwardly toretracted position, and a single stationary circular cam disposed oversaid plungers concentric with the sprocket and inclined relative theretoand having all of the plungers operable at their upper ends byengagement with the under side of said cam.

31. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a sprocketturning on a substantially vertical axis, means for feeding cylindricalarticles laterally to said sprocket to be conveyed in a circular path,one article per tooth of said sprocket, for application of a cap to eacharticle in a telescoping relationship thereto, another sprocket aboveand turning in concentric relationship with said first mentionedsprocket, means for feeding hollow cylindrical caps open end down tosaid last mentioned sprocket to be conveyed in a circular path on thesame radius as the aforesaid articles and in register with saidarticles, and cap applying means above the last mentioned sprocketreciprocable relative thereto, the last mentioned means comprising arotary member carrying plungers vertically disposed in circumferentiallyspaced relation in register with the caps in the last mentionedsprocket, spring means normally returning said plungers upwardly toretracted position, cam means for operating said plungers downwardly ontheir working stroke, and means for automatically causing stoppage ofthe machine operable by a cap when inserted open end up in the lastmentioned sprocket and left stuck on a cap applying plunger in theworking stroke thereof instead of being applied to one of said articlesfirst mentioned.

32. In combination, a circular hopper having a substantially horizontalbottom wall and a substantially circular vertical side wall with agenerally helical track extending radially inwardly from the latter forconveying articles of elongated hollow cylindrical form from the bottomof said hopper in a circular path upwardly to a drop-off point on theupper end of said helical track by virtue of vibration transmitted tosaid hopper on a small amplitude and with substantially uniformperiodicity, the

hopper having a discharge opening in the bottom below said drop-offpoint, a tubular chute extending downwardly from said hopper at saidopening to receive the articles after they drop off said track at thedrop-off point, the articles being of small diameter in relation to thewidth of said track and in relation to the length of the articles andbeing closed at one end, each article being heavier at its closed endthan at the open end, whereby when an article arriving at the drop-offpoint closed end foremost will drop off closed end down, and a balancingledge in said hopper in circumferentially spaced relation to thedrop-off end of said track and at substantially the same elevation, saidledge being arranged to have the open end of an article extend over itwhen arriving foremost at the drop-off point, said ledge being spacedcircumferentially from the drop-off end of said track less than thelength of the article, whereby when the closed end of the article movespast the drop-off end of the track the article will drop into said chuteopen end up.

33. A structure as set forth in claim 32 including a baffie extendingcircumferentially relative to said hopper and inwardly over saidbalancing ledge at an acute angle relative to said side wall, whereby toguide the open end of an article inwardly and away from the side wall toinsure disposition of the other or closed end of the article 'directlyover the discharge opening at the instant of the closed end of thearticle passing the drop-off point.

34. In a capping mechanism, a vibrating hopper for feeding hollowcylindrical caps closed at one end, a tubular chute extending downwardlyfrom a discharge opening provided in said hopper to convey the caps inend to end relationship downwardly from the hopper, means in the hopperutilizing the difference in weight at the closed guide in verticallyspaced relation, the upper one of which end of the caps to insure droping of the caps closed end down into said tubular chute, a conveyor atthe lower end of said tubular chute for conveying the caps laterally inupright position side by side toward a capper, and a helical guidecommunicating with said conveyor through which the caps are conveyed inside by side relationship and inverted to a vertical position open enddown for delivery to the capper.

35. In a capping mechanism, a vibrating hopper for feeding hollowcylindrical caps closed at one end, a tubular chute extending downwardlyfrom a discharge opening provided in said hopper to convey the caps inend to end relationship downwardly from the hopper, means in the hopperutilizing the difference in weight at the closed end of the caps toinsure dropping of the caps closed end down into said tubular chute, aconveyor at the lower end of said tubular chute for conveying the capslaterally in upright position side by side toward a capper, a verticaltubular guide between the conveyor and the lower end of said tubularchute, two horizontally reciprocable stops in said supports a stack ofcaps in the tubular chute and the lower one momentarily supporting asingle cap after release from the stack by the upper stop and beforedropping the same to the conveyor, means for operating said stops intimed relationship to one another, the caps fitting relatively closelyin the upper end of said guide but relatively loosely in the lower endof said chute, and means for delivering a jet of compressed air justabove the lowermost cap in the stack, whereby to expel the lowermost capfrom the stack upon release by the stop therebeneath and also urge therest of the stack upwardly away from the lowermost cap before thelowermost cap is released so as to prevent jamming of the closed end ofone cap in the open end of a cap therebeneath while in stacked relation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 590,502 9/ 1897Starkenstein 53-281 1,016,611 2/1912 Chilton 53-278 1,822,566 9/1931Davies 128-269 2,642,065 6/1953 Negri 128-269 2,698,707 1/1955 Hompe eta1 53-115 2,827,928 3/1958 Guckel 141-141 X 2,860,464 11/1958 Barthelemy53-115 3,165,868 1/1965 MacDonald et a1 53-35 TRAVIS s. MCGEHEE, PrimaryExaminer.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, B. STICKNEY, C. F. ROSEN- BAUM, A. FOURNIER, Examiners.

1. IN A MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MEDICAMENT APPLICATORS EACH CONSISTING OFA TUBULAR BODY CLOSED AT ONE END, A FRANGIBLE VIAL THEREIN OF GENERALLYCYLINDRICAL FORM CONTAINING A LIQUID MEDICATION, AND SWAB ENTERED IN THEOPEN END OF THE BODY AND ADAPTED TO APPLY THE LIQUID MEDICATION UPONBREAKAGE OF THE VIAL INSIDE SAID BODY, THE MACHINE COMPRISING A FIRSTHOPPER CONTAINING SAID TUBULAR BODIES, A CONVEYOR TROUGH, A TUBULARCHUTE, FEED MEANS FEEDING SAID BODIES CLOSED END DOWN DOWNWARDLY BYGRAVITY FROM SID HOPPER IN END TO END RELATIONSHIP THROUGH SAID CHUTE TOSAID TROUGH, MEANS ADVANCING SAID BODIES IN A ROW IN SAID TROUGH IN SIDETO SIDE VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP, A SECOND HOPPER CONTAINING SAID VIALS, ASECOND TUBULAR CHUTE, FEED MEANS OPERATED IN TIMED RELATION TO THE LASTNAMED MEANS FEEDING SAID VIALS DOWNWARDLY BY GRAVITY FROM SAID SECONDHOPPER IN END TO END RELATIONSHIP THROUGH SAID SECOND CHUTE TO SAIDTROUGH SO THAT ONE VIAL IS DROPPED INTO THE OPEN END OF EACH BODY INSUCCESSION, AND SWAB FEEDING AND APPLYING MEANS OPERATEDIN TIMEDRELATIONSHIP TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE BODIES IN SAID TROUGH, WHEREBYONE SWAB IS ENTERED IN THE OPEN END OF EACH BODY IN SUCCESSION.